I have decided to join the blogging craze. I am looking forward to taking a moment to find out a little more about the plants I have been photographing. I hope to explore all aspects of plants, flowers, trees and other garden related topics. Sorry about having to watermark the photos but there are a lot of people using them without permission.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Flowers from Today Nonstop Begonia

This yellow flower is one of my favorite annuals, although it can be brought inside and kept year round if you want. They grow quite well in containers. It is called a nonstop Begonia because it continuously blooms. The amount of flower forms and colors available seems to continue to grow and even the foliage has gotten into the act with more and more types available. A personal favorite of mine is the Mocha series by Park Seed. The coffee colored foliage really sets off the flowers nicely. These flowers are easy to grow in the moist shade. This type of Begonia doesn’t like to dry out so the moisture is a key part of their cultivation.

It seems hard to believe but the nonstop Begonia has only been gracing our gardens for about 30 years now after being developed in the 1980’s.

Since it is Memorial Day Weekend here in the United States this next picture seems appropriate. It is a picture of local Police officer Robert DiNardo who passed away last June. He was truly a hero here in our local community. This impromptu memorial is painted on a large wall of graffiti that I pass on my way to work every morning and yesterday I decided to stop and grab a picture. The roses are a nice touch and they give a good tie in to Today’s Flowers. The rest of the wall of graffiti is quite interesting and some of the best I have seen around here.

Since it is Sunday and that means a few extra flower lovers visiting here is a bonus picture of some nice blue flowers.

CinerariaPericallis cruenta(per-ee-KAL-liss) (kroo-EN-tuh)

Incidentally I broke out the D70s with the Sigma 17-70mm macro lens for the first two shots. I hadn’t used the camera in a long time but it felt good right away. It still works great. The shot of the Cineraria was taken with the Nikon Coolpix P6000.

14 comments:

I received one of these begonias for Mother's Day, and it's a real wonder. The blossoms last a good while, too. The yellow is so rich.

I like that memorial. It's a nicely done piece. The police and graffiti writers in our corner of the world have an interesting relationship, and it's nice to see it come through in such an appropriate, touching way.